YS1(p 



AN APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC 

FOR Jx. BUILDING FUND 

FOR TIIE 

STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN. 



At a Special Meeting of the Executive Com- 
mittee of the State Historical Sucnnv Of 
Wisconsin, which was largely attended, held 
at the Society's Rooms, ICadison, August 5th, 
1862, Hon. H. S. Orton was called to t lie chair. 

The following Communication was read by 

the Secretary : 

\l idibon, July 23d, 1862. 
Lyman C. Db ipbr, Esq., 

Sec'y Stab 8 !. 5 tiety, 

Dkar Sir : — I desire, through you, to present 
to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, a 
suitable site for the erection of a proper build- 
ing to meet the wants of the Society. The 
site that I propose to donate, is forty (40) by 
one hundred (10U) feet, on the north-west cor- 
ner of block seventy-three (73) in the oity of 
Madison, being the corner north-east >>i the 
Court House. 

The conditions of the above donation being 
as follows : The possession of the ground shall 
remain in myself until the expiration of the 
leases at present upon it. Bay until the 1st day 
of July, 18G4, and thereafter until the Society 
is ready to commence the erection of a build- 
ing thereon, of which I shall have thirty daj • 
notice; and the further condition, that the 
Sooiety shall commence and prosecute the erec- 
tion of a building, so far as to get it em 
within five years from the date hereof. I will 
pay all taxes on the property until the 
takes possession upon the terms above stated. 

Respectfully submitted, 

SIMEON Mil: 

Letters urging the necessity Of a tire-proof 
building were read from 1 A Laphatn, the 
President of the Society, and (torn \ . 
.dents Gen, SI B Smith, and Jamee Suther- 
land. The irhole subject, on motion, was 
referred to the Committee "ii Building Lot. of 
whom were present, Messrs. Draper D ktwood, 
J. T. Clark and Tibbit*-- 



The Committee, after full conference, report- 
ed a series of resolutions, through Mr. Draper, 
which after Blight amendment, were unani- 
mously adopted as foil 

1. That the Executive Committee, in behalf 
of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 
hereby gratefully accept, with the conditions 
imposed, the generous tender by Gen. Simeon 
Mills, of a convenient, appropriate and valu- 
able lot in this city, forty by one hundred feet 
in size, upon which to erect a suitable build- 
ing to meet the growing wants of the Society. 

'1. That the Society hereby pledges its faith- 
ful efforts to raise a lund of not less than 
twenty thousand dollars, for the erection of a 
plain and substantial tire-proof edifice, of not 
less than forty by eighty feet in size, to be 
commenced before the close of the year ltfoG, 
and sufficiently completed for occupancy by 
the close of the year 1867; and should there 
be any surplus, it shall be faithfully invested 
for the increase, maintenance, and support of 
the Sooiety. 

8. That pledges in the form of negotiable 
-.'. ithout interest if paid when due. and 

payable in five equal annual installments, be 

secured as soon as possible, by Solicit 

pointed by (his Board— said notes not to be 
valid, or of binding force, until their aggregate 
sum amounts to eight thousand dollars. 

4. That this Board, at this meeting, elect or 
appoint, and the new Board in January of 
each year proceed to elect or appoint, five re- 
sponsible members of l 

Trustees, whose duty it shall be to take charge 
of the Building l'und as fast as collected, and 
place it on safe deposit, drawing such reasona- 
ble interest as they may be able to 9ecure, uu- 
til needed for its specific purpose — or, until by 
direction of the Executive Committee, it be 
Otherwise in contingently provided 

for by the next following resolution 

5. That in ease the pledges and collections 
therefrom, should be deemed insufficient by 



the Executive Committee for the erection of a 
suitable building, the amounts collected may, 
by majority vote of the Committee, be vested 
by the Trustees, or a majority of them, in the 
stocks of the United States, or of the State of 
Wisconsin, and. with the accumulations of in- 
terest, be sacredly held, until the same by 
increment or addition shall, in the opinion of 
a majority of the Executive Committee, at 
some stated, or at a special meeting called for 
that purpose, be deemed and declared sufficient 
therefor. 

6. That a pledge is hereby solemnly made in 
behalf of the .Society, that the money and 
means thus raised shall lie inviolably applied 
in the above manner and in no other, and that 
no debt shall thereby be incurred or remain 
against the Society: and that the Executive 
Committee shall take such steps, at the proper 
time, as shall be sufficient in the law to rest 
the building and estate thereby Acquired in the 
Trustees, to hold the same, without incum- 
brance, for the uses of the Society; and in 
case the amount raised shall prove more than 
sufficient for erecting the building, the surplus 
shall be likewise vested in the Trustees, to 
be inviolably held for the stated maintenance 
and support of the Society. 

7. That such sums as may be contributed 
towards the Building Fund shall be credited to 
such of the donors as may desire it, as BO much 
towards the requisite Five Hundred Dollars to 
constitute them Life Dibkctobs of the Society, 
and consequently members of the Executive 
Committee during their natural lives; and those 
who contribute not less than titty dollar-' for 
this purpose, shall be constituted Hohobabt 

Memueks, with all the privileges of the Society 
for life. 

8. That when such pledges are paid, a com 
plete list ol the names and residence of the 
donors to the Building Fund he entered in a 
neatly bound book, to be permanently preserv- 
ed on exhibition in the Library, with a photo 
graph or engraving of eaob donor, with auto 
graph, attached ; and that such list be publish- 
ed, from time to time, in the public press, and 
in the next succeeding volume of the Bocil 

• 'ollections — so thai all the contributor- to this 
object may thus ever he held in grateful re- 
membrance as public benefactors. 

'a That any further necessary arrange- 
ments with reference to a building site, secur- 
ing a Building Fund, or providing tor the 
erection of the edifice, will to- promptly made 

by the Executive Committee, whose -pedal 
duty it is, under the eleventh artielc of l lie 

Constitution governing ns, "to supervise and 
direct the financial and business ooni erni ••! 
the Society 

Eton. Simeon Mills, Hon, H 8 Orion, Hon 

I B. Smith .1 \lder Ellis, and John i» Qui 
me, irere chosen rrustees for the ourrenl 
in accordance with the fourth of the preceding 
resolutions. 
Soljc:- appointed for the several 



counties of the State, to obtain pledges for the 
Building Fund. 

Mr. Draper, from the Committee to whom 
the subject of site and building was referred, 
reported an Appeal to the Public for a Building 
Fum/, which was referred to Messrs. Draper. 
Hyer, and Durrie, with instructions to have 
such number printed as may be necessary, 
and to perfect all needful arrangements for 
carrying the plan of soliciting aid for the 
Building Fund fully into effect. 

Adjourned. 
AN APPEAL 10 lilt: PUBLIC in BEHALF OK A 
BUILDING It M> 

It is now over thirteen years since the State 
Historical Society of 'Wisconsin had its origin; 
but from its re-organization, over eight years 
ago, it dates, in fact, the beginning of its real 
growth and prosperity. Since January, 1854, 
the Library has increased from fifty volumes 
to over sixteen thousand volumes and pam- 
phlets — so that it now ranks, in point of size. 
a- the fourth or fifth in the L'niou, of a purely- 
Historical or Antiquarian character. 

While the Society, with commendable single- 
ness of purpose, has hitherto devoted its means 
and efforts exclusively to the establishment of 
a public Library commensurate with the wants 
of an intelligent and inquiring people, in a 
rapidly expanding country, it has, thus tar. 
done nothing towards securing a tire-proof ed- 
ifice for the preservation of its precious col- 
lection- of historical and scientific literature, 
except from time to time to call attention to 
the subject in its annual reports. But such 
ha- been the increase of the Library and col- 
lection- , already compactly tilling a room 4.'> 
by 65 feel In size, significantly admonishing us 
that further accommodations will soon become 
a prime necessity, ■ ■ and all the while exposed 

to loss by the accidents of lire — that we are 
forced to the conclusion, that a tire-proof build- 
ing is now the pressing want of the Society. 

Kindi e.l societies and similar collections have 
already suffered by the calamities «i' fire. — 
The Library and Cabinet of the [own B 

al and Ccological Institute, the fruit of ten 

rears successful and pains-taking effort, be- 
came a prey to the flames, in 1868—800 rol 

antes, several valuable tile.- of Territorial 
newspapers, 6,000 pamphlets, 100 maps, 20(1 
manuscripts, with a splendid collection of fos- 
sils and other -pecimen- illustrative of the ge- 
ology of the State, a tine herbarium of its in 
digenOUS plants, with many other sj mien- 

atural hi-i. ter with a cabinet 

of about 400 Indian relic-, including the trap- 

• Blat i Hi-» I wei b consigned to irre 

traction. In Pebrnarj 1864, the 

splendid Parliament building o, with 

a portion of the Government Library and 

philosophical apparatus, together with all the 

paintings in the Council and A— einbly chain 

bers, were destroyed by fire originating from 
a furnace; while the Historical and Literary 

Booietl "t '.'lichee, which had room" in the 






Parliament buildings, lost almost the whole of 

'us twenty-il'' itherings, including ite 

valuable Library and Museun Br alone 

estimated in vain* ogether 

with il folio \. .hi- 

it, .■ Realm, and a large collection of historical 
manuBoripta. And, as i remarkable coinci- 
dence, on the 6th of January, 1857, about 7 
o'clock in the evening, at the very hour when 
the annual report was being read before our 
ity, urging the necessity of a fire-proof 
building for the safety of ita collections, the 
State House, at Montpelier, Vermont, with 
in m. ii v valuable oollectiona of the natural and 
civil history of that State, was totally destroy- 
ed by tire: and, among t ho property thi 
rificed by the devouring element, was the large 
collection of newspaper files which Mr. Henry 
Stevens, thou President of the Vermont His- 
torioal Society, had been, we believe, forty or 
fifty years in bringing together. In I s IT. the 
the valuable Library of the Royal Society of 
Icelandic Literature, in Copenhagen, was de- 
stroyed by fire; the loss was peculiarly unfor- 
tunate, as the Library contained more than two 
thousand unpublished MSS., and a numerous 
collection of ancient Icelandic works. Only 
a tew years sine.-, a very large and valuable 
collection of Western newspaper files, and oth- 
er printed matter, designed for the illustration 
of the civil and ecolesiastiaal history of the 
West, patiently gathered during a period of 
-nine thirty years, by the late Rev. Dr. John 

M. Peck, wen- destroyed by tin- burning of the 

building, at Rock Spring, Illinois, in which 
they v. 'red. 

We should be admonished by the destruction 
in whole, or in part, by tire, of public ar- 
chives in this country on repeated occasions : — 
in New Hampshire in 1736; in Massachusetts 
in 17 17. besides having been damaged by three 
previous fires ; in New York in 1740-41, and 
in 177o; in New Jersey in 1686; in North 
Carolina in 1881 : in South Carolina in 1698; 
the Capitol building, with the Territorial Li- 
brary of Oregon, in 185"); the Capitol, public 
offices, and records, at Williamsburg, Virginia, 
in 1746; the Capitol of Kentucky, with many 
public records, several years since ; — all of 
which were accidental: and in Virginia in 1781, 
by the British army under the fratricide Ar- 
nold. In 184'.», the Parliament buildings at 
Quebec were fired by the torch of a furious mob, 
when the Government Library — esteemed one 
of the very best in North America — and a large 
portion of the archives of the Province, were 
destroyed : and these public buildings had 
scarcely been rebuilt, and a now Library col- 
lected, when by accident, in 1851, the devour- 
ing element again laid them wai 

ral times have the National archives Buf- 
fered by conflagration — in 18U0, when the 
buildings of the War Department were de- 
stroyed, and twice subsequently more or less 
injured; in 1814, when the British burned the 
public buildings, and destroyed the National 



Library of 3,000 volumes, as well as many of 
the public arohives ; in 1833, when the ! 
ury buildings were burned ; in 1836, when the 
Genera' I I "lice were H<- 

| by fire, with almost their entire con 
tents including 7.">" l > models of patents, 163 

ilio volumes of records, 26 large port 

folio-, containing 9,000 drawings, many of 
them beautifully executed and very valuable, 

and in, ihim original descriptions of inventions, 

with iii:iii\ other documents ; and lastly, in 
1861, when the Congressional Library was 
burned, ooc isioned by the timbers, which form- 
ed the alcoves being inserted in the chimney- 
fines, destroying 35,000 volumes of books, to- 
gether with many valuable paintings, medals, 
and statuary. It is a significant fact, and ev- 
idence in point of the utility of fire-proof offi- 
ces, that the valuable public records and 
documents in the two tire-proof rooms of the 
War Department in 1814, and those in the fire- 
proof rooms of the Treasury Department in 
1883, were all saved, while most of the others 
were consumed. 

Other public institutions and public Libra- 
ries have not escaped the devouring element. 
In 17<>">. the building, together with the Li- 
brary and philosophical apparatus, of the 
College of William and Mary, at Williamsburg, 
Ya.. which had their origin in 1692, were de- 
stroyed by fire; and in Feb., 1859, the College 
buildings. College Library of 9,000 volumes, 
which had been one hundred and fifty-four 
year- in collecting, together with the Labora- 
tory, and a Society Library, wero totally con- 
sumed. In 1758, the Providence Library, 
which bad been nearly eighty years in collect- 
ing, was entirely consumed, except aoout 
seventy volumes loaned out ; while the Charles- 
ton Library Society, out of Let ween five and 
six thousand volumes, saved only one hundred 

and eighty-five from the flames of a disastrous 

fire in 177s, and many of these were volumes 
of mutilated sets. In 1866, the building of 
the Medical Department of the University of 
Louisville was destroyed bj fire, and portions 

only of the Library and chemical apparatus 

\ el. In our own State, only a few 

years -ince. the building of the Platteville 

Academy, with its valuable Library, was de- 
stroyed by tire. Intelligence just reaches us 
from aorosa the Atlantic, of the conflagration 
of the City Mall of Bordeaux, and perishing 
in its flames documentary evidence exhibiting 
eight hundred years of Gascon history, con- 
tained in many thousand autograph letters of 
kings, emperors, prinoes, governors, mayors, 
archbishops, and military commanders, relat- 
ing to oommeroe, war, art, science, letters and 
navigation, for the past eight eventful centu- 
ries — together with a complete collection of 
the \fotliteur newspaper, established as the or- 
gan of the- French Government over one hun- 
dred years ago. Well may historical students 
deplore such stupendous and irreparable losses : 
and hence the pertinent question, more easily 



asked, however, than answered— Why was not 
better care taken of such inestimable collections ? 

The same inquiry may, with equal proprie- 
ty, be propounded to us, with reference to the 
Library and collections of tho State Historical 
Society of Wisconsin. Look upon its shelves, 
and behold the priceless treasures there gath- 
ered together — the noble Gallery of Art, num- 
bering nearly sixty oil paintings, of our bat- 
tle fields, national heroes, statesmen, jurists, 
men of science and of letters, and our own 
State pioneers, many of them painted 
perior artists, and of the most of the 
tures no copies exist, — of the venerable news- 
paper files, nearly eight hundred in number, 
the oldest printed in 1680, and altogether cov- 
ering almost the entire eventful period of over 
a century past, including a file of nearly nine 
years of the old Pennsylvania Gazette, publish- 
ed by Dr. Franklin, from 17-V> to the close of 
17tj-i — be set of the Transactions of 

the Eoy: . London, beginning with its 

commencement in 1665, embracing one hundred 
ami twelve volumes- —works from the private 
libraries of Franklin, Clinton, Clay, and oth- 
ers — volumes of the original Jesuit Relations, 
and other French works on the North-West, 
published two centuries ago — curious maps 
and ancient pamphlets of the Great West of 
the last century — manuscripts of Sir William 
Johnson, at whose command a hundred years 
ago thousands of dusky warriors, Borne even 
from the then far-off regions of Wisconsin, 
would Hock to the si mdard of King Ceorge — 
manuscripts of "the accursed Brant," of 
"Washington, (ircene, Schuyler. Jefferson, old 
Put, Ethan Allen, and Molly Stark, and many 
others — narratives of our own Wisconsin pio- 
neers — historical curiosities from both word — 
many trophies of our own Wisconsin soldiers, 
and relics from the battle fields of the Southern 
rebellion — these, and many more, are every mo- 
ment more or le d to the danger of fire. 

Five Historical and Antiquarian Societies 
of the country have Beoured safe and commo- 
dious buildings for their libraries and collec- 
tions, viz : 

1. In L819, at the ] I Isaiah 

Thomas, the munificent founder of the Ameri- 
can Antiquarian Society, a brick building was 
erected, at an expense of $10,000, for thi 
of that Institution. It was W by ■•> feet in 
size, two stories high, with two ioh20 

by 28 feet. After t nirtj upancy of 

this building, finding thai the Location pro- 
duce. i ..I tint enlarged accommo- 
dations were greatly nee. led, the Society made 

arrangement* for a new building, which was 
completed in 1858, at a cost of SIS. ODD— of 
which its President, lion. Stephen Salisbury, 
contributed (5,000, and the site for the build- 
ing. It il 60 by 80 feet in size, with a base- 
ment and main -tory. forty-two feet from the 

ground to the eaves. The Library numbers 26, • 

000 volumes, and ample provision by alcoves 
and galleries is made for its future increase. 



2. The New York Historical Society, the 
second institution of the kind founded in the 
country, was without a permanent abode of its 
own for over fifty years after its organization, its 
treasures subjected to frequent removals, and 
liable at all times, in their insecure places of 
deposit, to be destroyed by fire — and once 
meeting with a very narrow escape. " In 
is 17." observes its President, Hon. Luther 
Bradish, " the New York Historical Society, 
then comparatively few in numbers, and fee- 
ble in pecuuiary resources, but deeply impress- 
ed with the great and increasing value of its 
Library and collections, and with the danger 
to which they were exposed, took the incipient 
steps for the erection of a new fire-proof edi- 
fice, for the reception and preservation of that 
Library and those collections, and for the gen- 
eral accommodation of the Society. This en- 
terprise, under the circumstances, might well, 
as it did, to the timid and even prudent, seem 
hardy. It was indeed bold. For the Society 
resolved upon an undertaking of great magni- 
tude and importance, involving a large expen- 
diture of money, without having in its treasu- 
ry a single dollar for its achievment. But the 
Society relied upon the intelligence and known 
liberality of New York, in the confident belief 
that her public spirit would not permit an ob- 
ject of such conceded merit and of so great 
public concernment, to fail for want of the ne- 
cessary means for its accomplishment. It was, 
therefore, determined that au appeal, accom- 
panied by a statement of facts, should be made 
to the public generally, and to the friends of 
historical literature in particular, for aid in 
the accomplishment of this great object of gen- 
eral interest. Most nobly did the public of 
New York respond to this appeal." A noble 
fire-proof edifice was, in due time, erected, the 
foundation fund for which was the generous 
bequest of five thousand dollars by Miss Eliz- 
abeth DeMilt, a benevolent maiden lady of 
that city. The total cost of the building alone 
iras about $70,000, and the site and furniture 
$15,000 more. It was appropriately dedicated 
Nov. 8d, 1857, when the historian Bancroft 
and others took part in the interesting exer- 
cises. The Library numbers 25,000 volumes. 

:;. The Mas-aehu*eit* Historical Society, the 
venerable pioneer of its kind, founded in 1791, 
pun based, in 1886, the upper portion of a 
large stone building, about do by s| feet, and 
completed the purchase of the entire building 
in 1856, at a cost of $36,000, and has fitted it 
up tor it* Library, (iallery, and collections — 
including ■ separate apartment for the splend- 
id Dowse Library, the free-will gift of the late 
Thomas Dowse, numbering some. 3, U00 volumes 
of the choicest editions of the most desirable 
stand ird works in tho English language. The 
Society and Dowse Libraries together number 
18,000 volume*, •_', 000 unbound pamphlets, and 
a ( iallery of 7o portraits, mostly of New Eng- 
land worthies. 

I. The Maryland Historical Society, found- 



ed in 1843. erected, in 184S, in conjunction 
with two other Library societies, ono of which 
has since transferred its book collections to 
the Historical Society, an elegant and commo- 
dious building, at a cost of over $28,000. The 
Library proper of the Society in 1854 contain- 
ed 2,123 volumes, of which over 300 were vol- 
umes of Gazettes, but the Baltimore Library, 
a miscellaneous collection, has since been 
transferred to the Society, bringing up the 
number of its Library to 15,000 volumes, with 
many manuscripts, and a Gallery of Fine Arts. 
The rooms of the Society arc furnished in an 
elegant manner, with solid oak book-cases, ta- 
bles, and chairs — the furniture alone being 
valued at $8,000. 

5. The Rhode Island Historical Society was 
founded in 1S22. The State having made a 
grant of $500, and having had a suitable lot 
donated for a building site, the Society was 
stimulated to raise a building fund which, aft- 
er a few years, was increased to several thou- 
sand dollars, when, in 1844, a suitable stone 
edifice. 30J by 50$ feet, was erected for the 
Society's Library and collections. The Libra- 
ry numbers 3,000 volumes, including many 
manuscripts, and valuable files of Rhode Is- 
land newspapers. 

Other Historical Societies are moving in the 
same direction. That of Maine has received 
from the Legislature of that State a donation 
of land, which has been sold for $6,000; to aid 
in the erection of a permanent edifice; the 
New Jersey Historical Society, founded in 
1845, and having about 3,000 volumes, has 
commenced raising funds for a building; while 
the Minnesota Historical Society, founded a 
few months later than ours, has purchased a 
lot, and commenced securing pledges for the 
erection of a suitable edifice. 

With such incentives before us — and several 
of them by institutions possessing less valua- 
ble collections than ours — ought we not to feel 
impelled to make an earnest effort to provide 
early and safe accommodations for the invalu- 
able treasures committed to our charge, and 
which are imperiled every moment until a fire- 
proof building is secured for their preserva- 
tion ? If these were once destroyed, no labor 
or wealth of man could replace a tithe of them. 
And though we may estimate the total value of 
our Library and collections, in round num- 
bers, ai fifty thousand dollars, yet it is a diffi- 
cult matter to properly estimate such collec- 
tions hy dollars and cents, when we bear in 
mind that many of the works could never be 
duplicated at any price. Some of the volumes 
have cost as high as sixty dollars, others twen- 
ty-five, and others twenty, while others, still, 
have not cost as many cents. Averaging such 
things, so totally unlike in value, should nev- 
er be thought of: and estimating the value of 
a Library by the number of its volumes, would 
be about as correct as it would bo to estimate 
its worth by its weight. 

Milton has left us a suggestive admonition: 



" As good almost kill a man, as kill » good 
book: who kills a man, kills a reasonable crea- 
ture — God's image ; but he who destroys a 
good book, kills reason itself, kills the image 
of God, as it were, in the eye.'' If the de- 
struction of a single good book involves such 
a loss, what should be thought of our crimi- 
nality, if by our negligence, our niggardliness, 
or love of ease, we should permit a whole Li- 
brary — the largest, with two exceptions, in the 
entire North West — to be constantly exposed 
to the dangers and vicissitudes of partial or 
wholesale destruction by fire? - A Library,'' 
says Beecher, "is not a luxury, but one of the 
necessaries of life." As we feel it our incum- 
bent duty to provide for the comfort, the 
health, and the safety of ourselves and loved 
ones, so should we make liberal provision for 
the safety and usefulness of our public libra- 
ries. They exert a silent but mighty influence 
upon the destinies of our race. 

There are some who, without duly consider- 
ing what is really needed to meet the present 
and prospective requirements of a Society like 
this, imagine that some suitable room in the 
new Capitol building might be secured for the 
purpose. The two wings — one completed, and 
the other soon to be so — oan offer no spare 
room for this object; nor is there any pros- 
pect of other portions of the edifice being built 
within a reasonable timfl to meet our growing 
wants — and even if aire ,dy erected, they could 
not afford rooms of stillicient capacity to ac- 
commodate the Society. When only eight 
years have transpired since the efficient re-or- 
ganization of the Society, the rooms now so 
well filled, and which cover a space of 45 by 
66 feet, with alcove accommodations, are al- 
ready too limited for shelf-room, picture galle- 
ry, maps, and cabinet of curiosites, to say no- 
thing nf much needed rooms for Society meet- 
ings, for package and storage, and fuel and 
heating purposes. Besides, we need to be ad- 
monished by the destruction of the Quebec 
Historical Society, in consequence of the burn- 
ing of the Canadian Parliament buildings, and 
of the newspaper and historical gatherings of 
Henry Stevens, by the burning of the Ver- 
mont State House, that such a collection as 
ours should have a building exclusively by it- 
self, fire-proof throughout, and not rely upon 
Government buildings for cramped and uncer- 
tain quarters. 

Pertinent to the subject under discussion, is 
the following extract of a letter from Hon. 
Henry S. Randall, formerly Secretary of State 
of New York, and author of a valuable and 
extended Life <>/ Jtfferton, and who. a few 
years since, presented our Society with one 
hundred rare and precious manuscript letters 
of the great chiefs of the Revolution, and pro- 
posed to make the Society the residuary lega- 
tee of a still larger collection of historical au- 
tographs : "But is one all-important thing 
attended to ? Are you safe from fire ? If not, 
some unpropitious day will leave your Society 



6 



and State plundered of these things which eon 
never btnplacedl If any member of your Bo 
ciety thinks it an easy thing to pick up these 
interesting remains of thepastin the highway, 
let him go 1o work, and see how long it will 
take him to gel together ncrain only the one 
hundred letters I sent yon! The chanoes are 
two to one, that lie will fail, with all the time 
he chooses to take. It would be B work of the 
merest chance, to get them together again. — 
By all manner of mean- have a fireproof 
building. Don't now look at rize and splendor 
— but safety. A brick house in an isolated 
position, with iron shutters and shelves, could 
be constructed at a very moderate cost, if you 
will "iily let the fancy work go, and let fancy 
wait till the next generation. It can't be but 
your Legislature would make the necessary 
appropriation. If not, appeal to the public- 
spirited citizens of your State to raise the ne- 
cessary means by subscription." 

"1 am greatly pleased,'' writes Gen. Wm. 
R. Smith, the venerable historian of Wiscon- 
sin, " to learn of the late acquisitions to the 
Society's Library. We daily feel the absolute 
necessity of a fire-proof building. Our valu- 
able properties arc now always exposed to ac- 
cident, and we are never free from absolute 
danger. How desirable it is that we should 
be in a condition of safety! Perhaps now is 
the appointed time, and the generous offer of 
Gen- -Mills will be the precursor of happy 
events for our much cherished Historical Soci- 
ety." 

" 1 am glad to learn,'' writes our worthy 
President, I. A. Lapham, "that our Society is 
making such good progress in filling the Libra- 
ry with such valuable books and papers. Our 
collections are now certainly worthy of a bet- 
ter and more secure place of deposit. I hope 
the project to erect a fire-proof building may 
be carried out fully; and the thanks of the 
Society are due to Gen, Mills for his very libe- 
ral offer of a lot on whicli to erect it." 

Hon. Cyrus Woodman, one of the Society's 
earliest and most Bteadfast friends, writes: "I 
am much pleased to hear that you are making 
an effort to secure the necessary means for 
the erection of a fire-proof building for the 
Wisconsin Historical Society. The Society 
has already a collection which is exceeded in 
value but by few similar collections in the 
country; and it is altogether too valuable to 
be exposed, as it now is, to destruction by fire, 
and the value is every year increasing." 

"I should regard the loss of the Society's 
collections," writes Gen. James Sutherland, of 
Janesville, "as a calamity equal to that of the 
loss of all the State archives in the Capitol. It 
has occurred to me, that the State should do 
something, at least, towards this object; if not, 
let us, as soon as practicable, commence the 
erection of a building for that purpose." And 
in past years, such men as Timothy 0. Howe, 
John B. Martin, Henry S. Baird, A. A. Towns- 
end, and C. A. Stevens, have substantially 



said: 'Such a collection as that of our His 
torir.nl Society, deserves a fire-proof edifice, 
and when the Society moves in the matter, we 
will gladly contribute towards = o desirable an 

The urgent necessity for a fire-proof edifice 
is sufficiently patent to all. The real question 
i- not, therefore, whether such a building is 
needed, but whether adequate pledges for a 
Building Fund can be secured in such trying 

iii as these, when the anxieties of all classes 

completely absorbed in the herculean 
efforts to quell the great Southern rebellion? 
A generous citizen of Madison, — and one of 
its pioneer settlers — Gen. Simeon Mills, has 
teudere'i the Society a valuable and suitable 
corner lot for a building site, provided the So- 
ciety will erect thereon and enclose a proper 
building to meet its wants within five years: 
which offer has been gratefully accepted on 
the part of the Society, pledging its faithful 
efforts to raise the needful amount, in the form 
of notes, without interest, payable in five 
equal annual installments, and to commence 
the erection of the building before the close of 
1866. 

It is peculiarly creditable to a country and 
people to be willing and ready to make sacri- 
fices for the public good in times of great 
national distress and calamity. Look at the 
sacrifices of Prussia! "Prussia," says Ban- 
croft, "in the hour of its sufferings and its 
greatest calamities, renovated its existence 
partly by the establishment of schools." Prom 
1808 until 1812, while at the mercy of Napo- 
leon, the nation was stripped of its revenues, 
and even robbed of the income of the endow- 
ments of its literary and benevolent institu- 
tions, and the whole country literally oppressed 
and impoverished by its conquerors — yet it is 
the pride of Prussia, that at the time of her 
greatest humiliation and distress, her educa- 
tional advancement, the founding of universi- 
ties, seminaries, and other public institutions, 
never flagged for a single moment — the Gov- 
ernment proclaiming, that they were "con- 
vinced that liberation from extraordinary ca- 
lamities is fruitless, and only to be effected by 
a thorough improvement of the people's edu- 
cation." 

Similar sacrifices were freely made by our 
Revolutionary fathers all through their perilous 
contest with the mother country. In the 
month of December, 1770, at one of the gloom- 
iest and most critical periods of the war, when 
Philadelphia was threatened by the British, 
and just before Washington and his little band 
re-crossed the Delaware to attack the enemy at 
Trenton, the Pennsylvania Council of Safety. 
then assembled at Philadelphia, while almost 
literally in session day and night, meeting at 
U o'clock in the morning, providing arms, am- 
munition, blankets, clothing and provisions 
for the winter campaign, and hurrying forward 
new levies of troops — at this time, as the Council 
of Safety justly termed it, of "eminent public 



danger, " and a tunc too of tho direst poverty 
of the people, they unanimously resolved to 
open the public schools, declaring that "the 
education of youth should bo carried on as 
usual." 

Such were the bright examples of the self- 
sacrificing spirit of our patriotic forefathers 
— examples all the more honorable as they 
shone forth so conspicuously at a period of 
such universal public gloom, and amid the 
wide-spread poverty and sufferings of a strug- 
gling people. It would seem, that in such 
times of great public calamity, men lose much 
of their ordinary selfish and sordid love of 
property, — perhaps, because, in part, of the 
precarious tenure by which it is held, but 
more particularly because of the powerful ap- 
peals the very times and circumstances make 
to their latent generous impulses — and thus, 
while liberally providing for the wants of 
i heir struggling country, they also provide for 
the education of their children, and the found- 
ing and maintenance of needful public institu- 
tions. Wealth and means thus consecrated, 
cannot but prove in a high degree beneficial 
to a grateful and appreciative people. 

We now appeal to the friends of the State 
Historical Society of Wisconsin for pledges for 
the building fund. Precious treasures have 
been committed to our charge, and the heroic 
devotion of the sons of Wisconsin on the bat- 
tle-fields of the pending contest, are constant- 
ly bringing new additions to these historic 
stores, in the shape of narratives and trophies ; 
and we arc responsible to our predecessors, to 
the present generation, and to those who suc- 



ceod us, for the faithful preservation of these 
priceless collections. "Trustees for the Past 
and Future, let us in the Present secure the 
records of the first for the instruction of the 

[ait. 

I. A. Laphah, .Milwaukee, 
Wm. It. Smith. Mineral Point, 
IIknkv S. Baied, Green Bay, 
Jambs Sitthbblahd, Janesville. 
<; i 0BO1 Q U.B, (ialesville, 
Chablxb Dubxbx, Kenosha, 

(i. W. Hazleton, Columbus, 
Lyhah C. Dbapbb, Madison, 

I'rANK H. FlRMIN, 

0. M. COHOVBB, 

Daniel S. DiRRir.. 

II. S. Orton, 
Simeon Mills, 
Gfao. H. Smith, 
David At wood, 
James D. Butleh. 
Gborce Hter, 
Horace Rublee, 
.Jons' Y. Smith, 
Gbo. P. Dblaplaihb, 
J. Alder Ellis, 
F. G. Tibbits, 
< '. l'>. Chapman, 
S. ('•. Benedict, 
D. J. Powers, 
S. V. Shi p.man, 
John D. Gurnee, 
II. W. Tenney, 

Executive < "iimmiil K . 
M IDISON, Sept. 15, 1862, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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